Chandigarh: Punjab has moved a step closer to appointing a regular Director General of Police (DGP), ending a prolonged reliance on an acting police chief.
The government has sent a panel of 14 senior IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for shortlisting candidates for the top post. The UPSC will now empanel three names, from which the state will make the final appointment, in line with Supreme Court-mandated procedures.
The panel largely comprises DGP-rank officers, with 1992-batch officers emerging as the most prominent contenders. Among the frontrunners are incumbent acting DGP Gaurav Yadav, along with senior officers such as Sharad Satya Chauhan and Harpreet Singh Sidhu.
Other officers on the list include Gurpreet Kaur Deo, Jitendra Kumar Jain, Shashi Prabha Dwivedi, Sudhanshi Shekhar Srivastava, Praveen Kumar Sinha, Amardeep Singh Rai and V Neeraja, among others from the 1993 and 1994 batches.
The move comes after the Supreme Court pulled up states for continuing with “acting” DGPs and directed adherence to the UPSC-led selection process. Punjab had delayed sending the panel for several years and had attempted to bypass the process through a state law, which was rejected by the court.
Once the UPSC finalises a shortlist of three officers, Punjab will appoint a regular DGP, who will get a fixed tenure of at least two years irrespective of retirement.
BI Bureau
